Armley Gyratory and Stanningley Bypass: Leeds motorists set for month long travel chaos as key routes shut

From 8pm Monday, July 24 until 5.30am Thursday, August 24, there will be daily night-time partial closures around the Armley Gyratory for surfacing works. Full diversion routes will be in place during this time and local residents will be contacted about how they’re affected.

The highways surfacing works will mark a significant milestone towards phase one construction completion, after the work started in April last year. The partial closures are planned to coincide with reduced levels of traffic during the school summer holidays as part of Leeds City Council’s Connecting Leeds project.

Coun Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for sustainable development and infrastructure, said: “I would like to thank road users for their patience in advance during this disruption. The Armley works are progressing well and on track to complete phase one by winter 2023/24.

“Armley Gyratory is a busy strategic route used by thousands of people each day and therefore to partially close it requires careful planning. By carrying out the repair works during the school summer holidays and most importantly at night, we can hopefully limit the disruption with expected lower traffic levels.

“We’re working hard and as fast as we can with our contractors to make these improvements and again thank everyone for their patience. We have done lots of work to try and minimise the disruption these works will create, but no matter what ever the amount of planning there may be some delays."

The road will re-open during the daytime with 30mph speed limits and other traffic management measures in place to allow improvements to be carried out safely. The Gyratory works are complex and the work areas have been segmented into seven parts, as work progresses clockwise around the gyratory, with a total of 19 phases of activity.

This includes planing the existing carriageway, ironworks, laying binder, tarmac surfacing and associated white lining. Because of the scale of the road surfacing, with different work areas and days, it will need different diversions and local access plans.

Works will also take place on Stanningley Bypass during the school summer holidays, with reduced levels of traffic allowing the works to progress as quickly as possible. From 8am Thursday, July 27 until 6am Monday, August 21, road works will take place along the Eastbound A647 Stanningley Bypass. The traffic management will be set up 24/7 between those dates.

To complete this work efficiently and for the safety of all road users, it will require a partial closure of the bypass and some of the access/slip roads, with local diversions. A contraflow system (between Dawson’s Corner roundabout and Swinnow Bridge) will be in operation.

These planned works are part of Leeds City Council’s highway annual maintenance programme. It will complement the successful Westbound joint and resurfacing programme, delivered during 2022. To minimise potential future disruptions, the council are also looking to allow the maintenance of other services (like street lighting, for example) where it is safe to do so, and within the traffic management set up.